


Who Would Love Him Then?

by Gimmeran21



Series: Sweetheart [6]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst, Brain Damage, Brain Injury, Cats, Disability, Established Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Unconditional Love, mental disability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:55:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29039742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gimmeran21/pseuds/Gimmeran21
Summary: Tony's father comes to visit.
Relationships: Anthony DiNozzo & Anthony DiNozzo Senior, Anthony DiNozzo/Jethro Gibbs, Jethro Gibbs & Anthony DiNozzo Senior
Series: Sweetheart [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1687855
Comments: 6
Kudos: 61





	Who Would Love Him Then?

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Give Me a Hug by rose_malmaison

"So who's he?"

"Met him at an NCIS C-conference about ten years ago. Wanted some intel on a suspect. Not needed now."

So the card went on the discard pile. 

“Who’s she?”

“Feebie. Went out with her once or twice.” 

And Gibbs smiled reminiscently.

“Redhead?”

“Of course.”

That card went on the discard pile as well. Gibbs listened as his husband read the cards aloud. They were going at Tony’s pace which was quite slow as he could no longer read fluently. They also had to take a break after about an hour because of the problems Tony had with his concentration. Because he couldn’t always remember why someone was on his contacts list Gibbs suggested he had another pile of cards for McGee to check out the details and see whether the person would need to be notified.

“So why have we been sending cards to them all this time?” 

Gibbs shrugged. He didn’t feel like sweating the small stuff at the moment. 

When they had got together and because Tony was the sociable one in the relationship, Gibbs had ‘delegated’ the job of social secretary to Tony, which normally entailed Tony selecting, buying, and addressing Christmas and birthday cards and then passing them on to Gibbs to add his name where appropriate. But since the shooting, Tony’s handwriting was too shaky to be easily read, Gibbs’ had always been illegible and he had vetoed e-cards so they’d decided to cull the index cards before sending out the change of address notifications for their move.

To help them McGee had created the database that would enable them to print out address labels and had written clear instructions on how to do so, resigned to the fact that he’d probably have to sort the situation out when they tried to print them off. So Tony and Jethro kept ploughing through the hundreds of cards, keeping and discarding them along the way until they came across another name both of them knew and that Jethro despised.

“You know, now’s your chance to take him off the list. Do you really want to let him know where you live? And now we’re changing our phone numbers as well you don’t need to give him the chance to reach out that way.” 

“No, no, I’m not doing that, he’s my dad.”

Then Tony had got up and walked away, staying out for several hours before coming back, quite composed but adamant. He rarely lost his temper and when he did it was quietly but unmistakeably. So Jethro dropped the matter, knowing that the ‘discussion’ wasn’t over.

And they’d eventually sent off the notifications including one to Senior.

One day, when after Tony and Jethro had moved and settled in comfortably, Alix and Callum had come for a visit bringing Jasper their cat with them so that he and Kitty (formerly Miss Kitty) could have a playdate. After having bought a shopful of toys of every description for his cat, (‘you’ll bankrupt us’), having seen the fishing toy strings bitten in two and the stuffed toys eviscerated by Kitty, Tony had come to realise that for entertainment she mainly only wanted her human or someone else to play chase, to throw balls for her to retrieve, to hunt birds or to hang out with Jasper.

Which is why Tony was on the floor playing with Kitty and Jasper while Jethro, Alix and Callum sat on the couches chatting and watching them indulgently. Gibbs, because he loved Tony, had bought Kitty for him much against his better judgement and had so far successfully hidden the fact that he and that creature as he called her to himself, loathed each other. She’d already managed to trip him up deliberately, he was convinced, spraining his ankle very badly. But anything for his husband.

Suddenly Tony’s phone sounded. He pulled himself awkwardly up from the floor, ignoring Gibbs' outstretched hand.

“Hi dad, how are you?”

“Hello Junior, I’m fine. I was in town and thought I’d drop by. I’ll be there in a couple of hours.”

“S-sure, dad…” and then Tony was left trying to talk to someone who wasn’t there.

“So, your dad’s coming here?”

“Yes.”

For the sake of their visitors Gibbs didn’t say what was on his mind about Tony’s waste of space father deigning to turn up out of the blue without any contact for six months. After Tony had been stabbed he had refused to participate in an interview his father had wanted to set up to make himself look good by basking in his heroic son’s reflected glory when he had been injured defending Joe Larsson, the local storekeeper. So his father had gone into what could only be called a sulk and hadn’t even sent them an acknowledgement of their move let alone wished them well in their new home.

When the silent alarm to the door flashed an hour later and an alert was sent to his phone Tony got up again to answer it.

“Hi dad, y-you’re early.”

“Don’t you want to see your old dad then, Junior?”

“S-sure, come in.”

As Tony took him through the hallway into the living room, his father said,

“I see your walking hasn’t improved any and you’re still stammering. Can’t the doctors do anything?”

“N-no.”

Tony didn’t want to explain the massive effort that had gone into getting that far in his recovery. It wasn’t worth it, not to his father.

Jethro was trying to hear what was being said in the corridor but Tony’s voice was naturally soft and the acoustics didn’t allow him to hear Senior's louder voice. All he knew was that when they came into the room Tony had gone white and he’d pasted on what Jethro knew to be the sort of smile that hid how he was feeling. So the bastard had, as usual, said something to upset his son.

Tony brought his father into the room and introduced Alix and Callum, who explained that they were about to go so they collected Jasper and said their goodbyes. Gibbs nodded to DiNozzo Senior and said nothing as he couldn’t trust himself to speak.

“Aren’t you going to show me round the house, Junior?”

“Oh, sure.”

Tony took his father round while his father made noises about how he thought they’d have bought a bigger house with covered pool and a pool house.

“It suits us.”

“Who do you have in the guest house?”

“Alix and Callum live there. They help us out.”

Tony wasn’t going to say that they were there to give him some company at times when Gibbs was out. Couldn’t give his father more ammunition.

"And this cat that keeps following us. When where you into cats?”

“J-Jethro bought her for me.”

After the tour they sat down again in the living room. Senior sniffed the air.

“Something smells good. Did the help make it?”

This time Jethro couldn’t keep silent.

“No, Tony made it from scratch, even the pasta.”

“Oh. So aren’t you going to invite me?”

“Yes, dad. Would you like to stay for lunch?”

“Thank you. Must see what your cooking’s like.”

So they sat down to a meal where only Senior was at ease.

“This is actually very good.”

Senior sounded surprised that his son could do anything right.

“Thanks dad.” 

Tony wasn’t going to describe to his father how long it had taken him to relearn even a few recipes and that even then he had to check the instructions regularly because of the problems he had with his memory and concentration.

“Well, Junior, to cut to the chase, I’m in a bit of a fix. This deal I’m trying to get off the ground, I need some seed money for it and I’m sure you’d be interested.”

"Need to know more.”

“Isn’t my word good enough?”

Jethro looked at Tony’s father, still handsome at his age. Tony had inherited his father’s looks and bone structure and would age well but without the frown lines or the signs of dissipation that he could see on Senior’s face. Tony’s view of life, despite so many things having been stacked against him, was mainly positive and happy and that was reflected in the way he looked. His father thought the world owed him despite his having never having given anything back in return and that discontent was reflected in his face.

Tony also had his father’s charm and charisma and had used those qualities to catch the bad guys (and it had to be said, some good girls as well judging by his dating history) but his father used it to persuade people to participate in shady deals and dubious business propositions.

“We need some more information before we risk any money.”

“Where’s this ‘we’ come from?”

“We hold our money jointly and we make financial decisions jointly.”

“I’m sure Junior can make a decision like that by himself despite being damaged. Or has his brain injury made him incapable?”

“Sorry, sorry, I misspoke but I would want to make sure any loan arrangement would be watertight.”

“We never said we’d lend you any money and if we did we’d have to make sure we knew enough about it for it to be as secure as possible.”

“But Junior’s trust fund?”

This time Tony spoke.

“I can’t use it for things like that. It’s com-compensation from NCIS for the shooting – and it helps me with medical bills.” He hated having to reinforce Senior’s distorted view of him as a weakling.

Jethro decided to take the heat off Tony. He couldn’t stand the way Senior treated him, always trying to get something from him and putting him down on the rare occasions he bothered to reach out.

“Without any more information, we’ll have to pass up this great opportunity. Now, I’m sure you have people to see and places to be.”

“Are you throwing me out?”

“No, dad, stay if you want.”

“I know when I’m not wanted and I don’t intend to stay here to be insulted. I’m going.”

“I’ll see you out.” The “and don’t come back” remained unspoken as Jethro took Senior to the front door.

“I always knew you were a bad influence on my poor son. I’m sure you’re taking advantage of him especially now he’s not got all his faculties. Perhaps I ought to get a lawyer to see whether he could make a case, undue influence, you know.”

Jethro was about to reply, while trying not to punch the man in the face, when he heard a sound behind him. He turned round and saw Tony, who had a look of horror on his face.

“Go, go.” And Jethro pushed Senior out the door.

Tony stumbled back towards the living room.

“Need to sit down.”

Jethro joined him on the couch.

“He’s never made threats like that before. He doesn’t normally upset me like that. Think I need a hug.”

Jethro took him in his arms. Tony rarely asked for him to do this, preferring to deal with his emotions in his own way but his father’s words had cut deep and the threat, although probably empty, was horrible enough. They stayed like that for several minutes.

“Sorry. Silly of me. Thank you, Jethro.”

Sometimes Jethro thought he would never understand his husband. Why on earth was he apologising for something his father had done to him? 

“What for?”

“Helping me out with dad.”

“Helping out? I think you know what I’d like to do with him.”

“Of course I do.”

“I don’t know how you do it.”

“What?”

“Put up with him. He hurts you every time you see him or talk to him. My love, he’s a bastard and you need never see him again. Try to forget what he said. He’s a bitter man and he’s jealous of the life we’ve made. We could get a restraining order.”

Then he realised that although Tony had been hurt yet again, he didn’t look devastated now, instead he was starting to look resigned.

“Jethro, he hurt me today and he normally does but I know what my father is like, have known properly since my mother died when I was eight. She’d p-protected me from him and when she wasn’t around any more he showed me what he was really like.”

Jethro knew that included Senior leaving Tony in a hotel room in Hawaii for days because he’d forgotten him and disowning him when he was twelve. He’d never asked Tony how he’d coped after being disowned and his husband had never volunteered the information. He was convinced that Tony could have told him about many more instances of neglect not to mention abuse. Perhaps one day he might open up more but not any time soon.

“So why do you still talk to him, let alone see him?”

“Because if I left him like he did me and if I didn’t love him who would? His one night stands or three day flings or his business…?” Tony’s speech started to fail him.

“That, that just leaves me.”

Then Gibbs realised.

“Have you been keeping track of him all this time?”

“I have to know where he is and if he needed help.”

“Sweetheart, you’re so wrong. All he does is insult you.”

“So? He’s still my dad. It’s my dec-decision. Please try to understand.”

Jethro had admired Tony for years and his admiration for him had kept growing the more he knew him but now he truly wasn’t sure how to react. Part of him wanted to applaud Tony’s altruism and kindness but another part wanted to protect Tony from his father and to inflict lasting damage on that son of a bitch. What Tony had just said showed a clear eyed view of his only surviving parent. His father would always treat him shamefully and only ever reach out to him if he wanted something but Tony was so mature that he would accept that and forgive him and be there when his father really needed help. Was that a definition of unconditional love?

Tony was the adult in the father-son relationship with a sense of responsibility towards his father that Senior had never had towards him. Tony was the responsible one, responsible for his father, the man who would never grow up. It was even possible that the way he had been mistreated by his father had made him want to protect and to serve others although he could so easily have decided to look after number one in the way that his father did.

When Tony had been shot and Jethro had reached out to Senior he had ducked out of seeing Tony because he said he didn’t like being with sick people. He could only manage a brief phone call to Tony and that was after Gibbs had forced him to make it. Any _normal_ father would have dropped everything to see his seriously ill child. Jethro knew how he would have behaved if it had been Kelly who was sick, he would have done anything to be by her side, even deserted if he had to.

One of the immediate temporary after effects of the brain injury had been to do away with some of Tony’s masks and lower his inhibitions so Tony had uncharacteristically got excited at the thought of his father phoning him up in a way that would not have happened had he been well. It had broken Gibbs’ heart to see Tony, vulnerable and ill, putting his faith in someone who was destined always to let him down.

Then Gibbs thought about his own father. When he’d left Stillwater after his mother’s funeral, his father had had a network of friends and was at the centre of the community but Jethro had cut off all ties with him because his father had brought what he thought of a date to the funeral.

_His_ father had never been neglectful or abusive, strict yes, but fair and often fun. He had never abandoned his only child but his only child had abandoned him. Was his father still surrounded by friends or had they all died off leaving him alone without his only child to help him?

So he picked up the phone.

“Dad? This is Jethro.”


End file.
